Cloth Which Signifies

There are hundreds of occasions and situations wherein flags, banners, drapings, kites, windsocks or insignia -- all of which require a textile designer -- are used to identify, dignify and/or celebrate. National identity immediately jumps to mind. Governments may choose the designs for flags, but it is the textile artist who has provided the range of designs.

The Canadian flag is perhaps the prettiest design among the world's national emblems. You can see the design at http://canflag.pfbcanadian.com/regular.h... State flags of the United States are often used to display central events in the history of the state. State flags will have their own separate article on this site.

But apart from proclaiming identity, flags, banners and kites and windsocks are festive and are particularly appropriate when a group's identity is being celebrated. See the custom-made festive flags, banners and windsocks at http://www.molokai.com/kites Such emblems in textiles can be used to mark special occasions or objects such as a new home or business, boats, cars, parties, reunions, conventions, trade shows, seminars, political campaigns, civic parades and religious processions.

The creator of the site at http://www.galaxymall.com/market/betsy.h... tells how a textile artist turns a client's ideas into a flag:

"When we begin work on your flag, our first job is to make whatever artwork you've given us into a pattern which is (1) big enough to work on a 3' x 5' field, and (2) the closest possible representation of your logo or idea. In the past we've worked from business cards, stationary, T-shirts and rough sketches. Sometimes we start from nothing. The point is to work with the customer until there is an agreement on a design. That design will be exactly what the flag will look like. Once we've created a clean image, it's traced onto fabric. We use a 200 denier nylon which is similar to the fabric used in some backpacks and outdoor clothing. The fabric we buy is some of the only industrial nylon available which is UV treated to resist fading. After each piece is hand cut, they are individually fused to a heavy commercial-weight interfacing in order to give your flag weight and structure as it hangs on its pole. Those reinforced pieces are then adhered to both sides of the blank flag field and sewn using an incredibly tight zigzag stitch with a heavyweight industrial polyester thread. The smallest details are done in stitching. We finish our flags with either a sleeve, or super-duty canvas heading with brass grommets."

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